A New Platform [Intro Post March]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

Once again passengers are awoken by the morning announcement.

"Good morning passengers, it is day One of the month of Kazoo. Points have been updated on the system."

They have indeed, and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train for a while will also be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and the windows fill with the fog that means they are at a platform. The fog is thick, the air is warm and humid and there are rumbles of thunder, the air heavy with the promise of rain.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers: Alfredo Martini, Daia, Enna Alchiba, Lord El-Melloi II, Natsuno Yuuki, Nita Callahan, Saku Gyousou, Sakura, V and Wen Qing

But on the platform itself there are new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours, in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam, billowing around them as they come to their senses. As their eyes adjust, they will see they are on a platform, glass and dark stone rising in sturdy arches around them. Behind them is a set of barriers, and in front of them is a single track extending both ways into thick fog.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own and a style they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze; then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large, and seems smaller with twenty-seven figures scattered around. All facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. To both the left and right, tracks disappear into the mist.

A roaring sound, and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out step a strange assortment of people. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple, though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

The Train

After a short time, the doors hiss open again. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there's anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would lead to something terrible. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information (see
'Publications'). Those not new to the train will note the addition of an eighth sleeper carriage. The store rooms have been restocked with fresh ingredients, it seems the month of Kazoo is defined by the tomato and there are plenty of them.

For passengers that have bought items, these are also scattered around the luggage carriage in various suitcases and bags.

New passengers will find their ticket allows them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches full of spare blankets and pillows.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers as thunder rumbles further and the storm threatens to break. The doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, but they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view again as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog-filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady itself. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever-changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Comments

[worthallthis]

"Really?" They sound more interested in that than put off, but then, they've always been a great big nerd about science fiction. And since Beacon and the train, their idea of "alien" has not been made particularly negative. "What were they doing there?"

[yondu]

Yondu is already jumping down his own throat in his head. He is a moron. He's a dipshit. An uncomfortable coil forms in his stomach because this, this is what cost him the found family he'd come to rely on. This pure idiocy is what led him to a life of trying not to be too hated but never getting anything near real affection.

"I was on a pick-up." He tries to pretend that roiling feeling right down in his intestines doesn't matter. "But it was so borin' I'd rather hear about some of the other places. Proof your planet ain't all grass."

[worthallthis]

Oh. That is some impressive back-pedaling, so Soldat takes the hint. "I've been all over. Missions, mostly. And the city I remember from before that has changed so much I probably wouldn't recognize it now. But last place I was in, Washington DC. Capital of the country I was owned by." They launch into a description of the block the bank vault was on, the building itself with its tall columns and complicated back rooms that led to his storage space, the even taller buildings all around it, the comforting sound of traffic in the street.

"I like cities best," they admit. "There's always something happening, in a city. Always people, so you're never alone, yeah?"

[yondu]

He's going to pretend that worked. He's just going to lie and fib and convince himself that one-hundred percent just slid under the radar.

Country he was owned by, huh? Had to do with the Hydra people?

"I liked the places somewhere's in between, y'know. Big an' little. Lots of people comin' and goin'. There was one I liked best. Real cold, though, always snowy. Called 'Contraxia'."

Then- "Was that country of yours- it the one you was born in?"

[worthallthis]

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure. America. Then I was captured in Russia, during a war, and worked out of there for a while before the American branch bought me." They're pretty sure there's a proper bill of sale somewhere, and everything. They pop the latest waffle out, start pouring the next. "At that point I didn't remember any of it, so it didn't matter a whole lot who were my handlers. Pretty sure the main handler got a little thrill out of knowing exactly who I used to be, though."

Why else leave off their mask for that last fight with Steve, after all, if Pierce didn't know exactly who they used to be?

[yondu]

"Hell... It's messed up enough when someone buys another thinkin', breathin' person. But when it's your own kind?"

He knows it happens but it's still not pretty to hear about.

"Sounds like a real sadistic dick of a handler you had there. I had an owner but... no handlers. That's a real shit deal."

He at least got to keep his mind and his own wants. He didn't have a face worth using against anyone, just worth marking up to keep track of his mistakes. He'd rather the latter, to be honest, grotesque as the choices are.

[worthallthis]

"I've had several. Pierce wasn't even the worst. He just took advantage of the ones who came before." Pierce was the worst. Pierce killed the last of what felt like a person, in them. But he never could have done it without Lukin's brainwashing and Zola's Chair. "It's fine. They're all dead, now. And I'm here, doing good."

They half-smile. "Making everybody breakfast."

[yondu]

Well... seems like the guy did a number on him. Worst or not, he's bad enough, and he made it personal. Like he had a power trip out of it. Good thing he's dead, that they're all dead, that they can't get no worse.

"Maybe if you ever get off this thing you should go open yourself a restaurant. I bet you'd make a lotta bank an' you could be one of those places people feel decent stoppin' at."

Like if they were in a shady place, they'd know where to go for a guy to keep them safe.

"You know... my people are hunters. So I don't... think I mind what I am all that much. Once it was mine, I'm still a hunter at my very heart. They just fine-tuned it. But you? You just seem like you wanna look out for people."

[worthallthis]

"I can use the skills they gave me to protect," Soldat says with a shrug, leaning on the counter. "Maybe I was born to do this. I've always been good at it, even before HYDRA got me, back in the war."

Doesn't mean they wanted it. They clearly remember, now, the terror and nausea the person they used to be felt at going to war that first time, not only at the idea of dying and never seeing his family again, but of having to turn that rifle he was so accurate with on actual people instead of training targets.

But they have the knowledge and skill, regardless of how they came by it, and they're not going to waste it. Never let it be said that Soldat can't look for the positive in any situation. "Sometimes looking out for people is feeding them breakfast. And sometimes it's shooting their enemies in the head. Now I can do both."

[yondu]

"And I've been to a few places that could use a diner like that with a cook like you. You should hope for later. You still got you a whole stretch ahead..."

This train can't be forever. It shouldn't be forever. What the hell is Yondu going to do? He doesn't know. Probably give the hell up. But Soldat? They're too good for that. They're still worth something in the world.

"The hell am I even on my team? This should be your doin'. Big damn hero."

He discards that familiar vibe from his mind before it can haunt him again. Reminds himself that Stakar would never have cooked. Ever.

[worthallthis]

"Hey, everybody's got their own skills," Soldat says. "Their own useful traits. Maybe you're very thorough. Maybe you're hard to scare. Maybe you know tactics really well or are a persuasive leader." They give him a quick grin. "And your arrow is nothing to sneeze at. I'm damn jealous of that thing."

[yondu]

He grins at that, sticking his blue tongue out a little. "Hero, you ain't seen me use it for real yet."

Which, to be honest, he really misses that, too. As bad as he misses his uniform, he misses his arrow in a fight.